The out-of-control wildfire burning 19 km west of Nordegg grew to 507 hectares as of Friday, but an Alberta Wildfire spokesperson says progress was made to slow down the spread on Thursday.
“They used a lot of air tanker and helicopter action on it, and it was quite successful,” said Travis Fairweather, wildfire information officer.
“There was the potential for it to grow to several thousand hectares, so to be still under 1,000 hectares is a pretty good sign.”
There’s also the possibility of rain in the next few days which would further assist in battling the blaze, he said.
The fire was discovered in the Rocky Mountain House Forest Area on Tuesday. Air tankers and helicopters continued to work on the flames from the air on Friday, and the plan was for firefighters to start working on the ground, along with two pieces of heavy equipment to build a fire perimeter.
“Safety is our number one priority and that includes our firefighters so it’s always a matter of what the wildfire is doing, what intensity it has, and how effective it would be to even have firefighters on the ground.”
The cause of the fire was still under investigation.
On Wednesday, Clearwater County issued a mandatory evacuation order and remains in place for Snow Creek, Dry Haven, Fish Lake and Goldeye Lake provincial recreation areas, Frontier Lodge, and Centre for Outdoor Education.
A two-hour evacuation alert was also issued for the hamlet of Nordegg (north and south subdivisions) in order for residents and visitors in the area to be prepared to leave within two hours of being notified.
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Forest fire out of control in Nordegg area
The wildfire danger in the Rocky Mountain House Forest remains very high.
Any roads off Hwy 11 to the evacuated provincial recreation areas were barricaded. Traffic control points were also set up west of Nordegg and east of Bighorn First Nation to instruct traffic to move through the evacuation area without stopping.
Fairweather said a lot of calls have come in from people with plans to visit the area.
“It definitely sounds like people will be in the surrounding areas for recreational purposes.”
Travellers are encouraged to visit emergencyalert.alberta.ca or download the Alberta Emergency Alert App.
For current wildfire status visit wildfire.alberta.ca.
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Officials with Youth HQ, which runs camps for kids age 7 to 17 at Camp Alexo, are monitoring the wildfire situation.
The camp is located east of Nordegg so it is not under the two-hour evacuation notice.
“We’re hopeful that we can carry on with camps as planned,” said acting executive director Terri Blanchard.
“This is our first year back open at Camp Alexo since the pandemic. It’s been two years without any camps running out there so we’ve been really excited.”
Camp Alexo reopened to kids on July 4. A 10-day camp with about 40 kids from central Alberta wrapped up Friday, and another group of campers is scheduled to arrive on Monday.
She said programs at the camp could be modified according to air quality.
“It would be certainly disappointing if we have to cancel, but safety is a priority.”
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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